There
is no better indication of the great injustice meted out to Raff by fate
than the fact that, for three quarters of a century or more, just one
three-minute long piece of his salon music maintained his name precariously
before
the music-loving public, despite the huge acclaim heaped upon many of
his large scale creations in several genres during his lifetime. The
Cavatina, from his Six Morceaux for Violin & Piano op.85, was probably
his most played work during his lifetime and it remained in the general
repertoire when all the rest of his huge production of music had disappeared.

Dedicated to to the violinist Ludwig Strauss (1836-99), this perfectly
formed set of little salon pieces was composed in Wiesbaden in 1859 and
published by Kistner of Leipzig in January 1862 and Novello of London
in 1865. They were popular from the first and most of the individual
pieces were soon available in transcriptions for various combinations
of instruments - including even orchestral versions. Whilst Raff was
an active arranger of his own works, he made
none for these pieces, probably because he didn't need to, such was the
industry of others.

Unlike most of his contemporaries amongst "serious" composers,
Raff did not feel that the composition of "salon music" was
beneath him. Indeed, as a melodist capable of writing with clarity and
wit he was admirably suited to produce a large catalogue of piano and
light chamber works many of which showcase the very best qualities of
a genre then in huge demand for home and small concert music making.
Raff's salon music never fails to charm and does not outstay its welcome.
It often displays a sly wit which punctures any hint of pomposity, well
demonstrated by the opening Marcia of this set. Throughout his salon
music output there is an economy of statement and delicacy of idiom which,
allied to a gift for melody rivaled only by Dvorák and Tchaikovsky,
renders even the most trifling of pieces capable of producing a smile.

I:
Marcia Allegro [the start of the piece -
1:10]

This is the longest of the pieces at just under five minutes
duration and alternates a childish C minor march with Tranquillo episodes
calculated to deflate the strutting bombast.

II:
Pastorale Andantino [the end of the piece
- 1:10]

An air of rustic sadness pervades the outer sections of
this haunting little picture in A minor, an object lesson in economy
of statement. The filigree middle section (in A) provides a short episode
lightening the melancholy.

This Cavatina in D was a staggeringly popular piece, and the reasons are not
difficult to see. It is both ardent and beguiling. Its fame was such that it
was soon the subject of a legion of arrangers who ensured that there were few
salons, bandstands or concert halls in which it went unheard. Its appeal even
earned it a place amongst the repertoire of the salon orchestra of the "Titanic"!
It is a simple piece of A-B-A construction, whose attraction is founded on
a typical example of Raff's superb melodic invention.

The first excerpt is from Guild GMCD 7125. The second
selection follows on immediately after the first and is of the extended
middle section, in Singer's transcription for violin and orchestra. From ASV
DCA 1000 [review].

IV:
Scherzino Allegro [the middle of the piece
- 1:14]

In his orchestral works, Raff had a penchant for woodwind-dominated
scherzos and here he manages to transfer the genre to violin and piano
whilst retaining the faerie atmosphere of the larger works. The little
G minor piece chatters along packing several changes of texture into
its three minute life.

This lovely E major movement is a song without words in
which Raff the melodist is to the fore. As with the Pastorale, there
is a hint of melancholy about this elusive cantilena which is given voice
in a slightly more dramatic middle section which slowly subsides as its
passion is spent.

VI:
Tarantella Presto [the end of the piece
- 0:59]

The concluding Tarantelle dispels the Canzona's tristesse
in a fiery virtuoso display. Raff pulls out all the stops in a helter-skelter
finale, bringing this delightful little set of pieces to a satisfying
close.

All musical examples, except where noted, are from CPO
999 768 [review].